India’s domestic natural gas production likely to jump by 50%: Petroleum Secretary

• 'For India, the transition will involve moving from dirtier sources of energy to relatively cleaner sources and on to 100 percent clean renewables'

• 'We expect that in the next three-four years, the entire country will have its own gas distribution network'

New Delhi: India's domestic natural gas production is likely to jump by 50 percent on account of some new discoveries that have been made, said Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor. Speaking at the 11th World PetroCoal Congress and World Future Fuel Summit on Tuesday, Kapoor said, "Efforts are being made to increase India's domestic gas production. And it is likely to increase by 50 percent because of some discoveries that have been made. That will be a major jump in production."

Commenting on India's energy transition strategy, Kapoor stressed that natural gas will be an integral part of the energy shift. He added that for India, the transition will involve moving from dirtier sources of energy, like coal and oil, to relatively cleaner sources, like Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and CNG blended with Hydrogen (H-CNG) and on to 100 percent clean renewables.

'India creating gas infrastructure at rapid pace'

The Petroleum Secretary said that in order to push the share of natural gas in the economy from the current 6 percent to 15 percent by 2030, India needs to create the required infrastructure. "We need to create a trunk pipeline network. The requirement is for a 34,000-km-long gas pipeline which will connect the entire country. The good news is that every month, some section of this trunk network is getting commissioned. And currently, we are at 18,400 km. We hope to cover the entire country in the next three years or so," said Kapoor.

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'In 3-4 years, entire country will have gas distribution network'

Commenting on the city gas distribution plan, the Petroleum Secretary said, "For distribution network, geographical areas are being tendered out by PNGRB and network is being laid. We expect that in the next three-four years, the entire country will have its own distribution network." He added that as India pivots more towards clean energy, it is imperative to ensure availability of greener sources of fuel for the transition to take place.

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